Pulse generator



April 19, 1949. c. M. WOODRUFF PULSE GENERATOR Filed Jan. 2, 1945 FIGJ FIG.2

gered-discharge of two gas-filled electronic tubes in tandem for radar and related purposes, ca-

\ field of radio from the following description, suit-. able illustrative embodimentsof the present in- Patented Apr. 19 1949 UNITED STATES ENT "O FFICE PULSE GENERATOR Clarence WoodrfiffQ-Dayton, Ohio Application January 2, 1945, Serial No; 571,056

1 Claim.

(Granted under the act of Marcha3, 1883; as amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me o-f any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to radar and more par- The objects of the present invention comprise the-provision of a pulse generator using the trigpable of generating in a simple improved manner an extremely narrow pulse of very proxitriggered gas-filled electronic tubes in resistance capacity oscillatory circuits; and a pulse. generator in which the pulse width and pulse repetition rate are separately controllable and which' possesses other advantages, as appear hereinafter.

i With the above-and other objects in View which will be apparent to those who are informed in the vention are shown in the accompanying drawing I wherein:

i and Fig. 2 is a schematic circuit of a generator for generatingrepeated pulses of negative voltage.

In the circuit that is shown in Fig. 1, a gas triode l comprises a cathode 2, grid 3 and plate Plate supply voltage for the triode l is supplied from the positive terminal 13+ through a variable time-constant resistor 5, current limiting resistor 6, and choke I, to the plate 4 of the triode I. A time-constant capacitor 8 is connected in series with the time constant resistor 5, between B+ and ground. The negative terminal of the plate voltage supply for the triode I is grounded at B. The grid 3 of the triode I is grounded necteddirectly to the cathode 2 of the triode I.

The grid I6 is grounded through a grid leak-resistor l8 and a time-constant capacitor 2| in-parallel.- The grid I6 also is connected to the plate I? through a variable time-constant resistor '20 and a'capacitor It in series. A load resistor 22 is "connected between the plate I! and ground through a blocking capacitor 23 at its plate end.

- Tworelaxation oscillator circuits are provided,

one comprising the gas triode I, the resistor and thecapacitor 8, and the other comprising the gas --In-operation-of the circuit assuming that the [cycleef operation commences with the capacitor I fi discha-rged, the tube I non-conducting, and the plate 4 at ground potential, charging current from .plate voltage supply at 13+ flows through the resistor. 5 into the capacitor 8. As the capacitor ii-charges, the potential of the plate 4 rises until thestrikingvoltage of the gas tube I is'reached.

.nd back to ground. Due to the nature of the gas triode I, the voltiage drop thereacross falls to about l5volts and the cathode 2 attains a positive potential above "ground, which is the difierence between the strikingvoltage and 15 volts.

The voltage difference simultaneously appears across the cathode I5 and the plate ll of the gas triode I 4 and also across the network comprising the resistors I8 and 20 and-the capacitors I9 and 2|.

Initially, the grid I 6 0i the gas triode I4, which is also a part'of this network, is at ground potential. When the gas :triode I strikes, transitory current flows through the capacitor I9 and the resistor 20 in series flows and the voltage across the capacitor 2I and also the potential of the grid I6, rise quite rapidly.

. Initially, the difference between the grid I6 and the'cathode I5 of the gas triode I4 is the same .Jas'that existing between the grid 3 and the oaththrough a grid resistor I3. The cathode 2 of the u ode 2 of the gas triode The voltage'that is "applied to the gastriode' i4 when the gas triode i breaks down,- is lessthan the breakdown voltage of the gas triode I4. Due to the rise of potential of the grid I6 above ground by the processwhich has been presented, the negative bias ot'the grid I6 with respect to the cathode I5 grows lessand less and eventually reaches a there will be a circuit of very low impedance from the high voltage side of the capacitor 8 through the gas triode I, the gas triode I4, and the capacitor I2 back to the low voltage side of the capacitor 8. The capacitor is therefore discharged in a very short time. The plate voltages of the gas triodes I and It will quickly fall to the cutofi values, the arcs are quenched, and the tubes become again non-conducting. The time-constant capacitor 8 will be substantially discharged and the circuit returns to the initial condition from which it started, and the cycle repeats.

It will be observed that the voltage across the load resistor 22 follows the short time fluctuations of the plate II, due to the connection through the capacitor 23. Hence upon the striking of the gas triode I, there is an upward surge of voltage across the load resistor 22 and upon striking of the gas triode M there is an equal downward surge across it. This surge constitutes the generated pulse. The duration of this pulse is substantially the time required to charge the capacitor 2i through the resistor 26, and the time-constant of these two elements may be taken as the pulse length.

The interval between pulses is the time required to charge the capacitor 8 through the resistor 5 so that the time-constant of these two elements may be taken as the pulse repetition interval. It will be noted that, since both the start and the finish of the pulses are caused by the breakdown of the gas triodes I and I4, both sides of the pulses are very steep; and, since voltage conditions across the load resistor are very steady between the striking of the gas triode I and the striking of the gas triode I4, the top of the pulse is reasonably level. A pulse signal is obtained thereby which approaches very closely to the ideal rectangular wave form without trailing edges on either side and of a duration which may be made very short indeed.

The voltage output of the pulse is extremely high since it is substantially the breakdown voltage of the gas triode I4. The purpose of the capacitor I2, which is made quite large, is to furnish a by-pass to ground for alternating currents, and thus maintain the cathode I5 at a fixed potential. The grid resistor I3 prevents undue grid current in the gas triode I. The resistor I8 furnishes a discharge path for the capacitor 2| and, together with the resistor 20, determines the proportionate rise of voltage of the grid IS. The resistor 6 is inserted in series with the plate 4 to limit the discharge current in the gas triode I and I4 to safe values. The inductor I, having very small inductance, has been found helpful in suppressing parasitic oscillations in the gas triode I. The capacitor 23 serves to isolate the circuit of the pulse generator from the circuit of the load 22 insofar as direct currents are concerned. By varying the resistor 20 the pulse width may be varied without altering any other characteristic of the discharge. By varying the resistor 5, the pulse repetition rate may be controlled without altering any other characteristic of the discharge.

A second form of device that also embodies the present invention is disclosed in Fig. 2. The circuit that is disclosed therein differs from that of Fig. 1' in that it is modified to produce a negative pulse rather than a positive one. The circult that is shown in Fig. 2 comprises a gas triode 3| that comprises a cathode 32, a grid 33, and a plate 34. Positive plate voltage is supplied at terminal B+ through a variable time-constant resistor 35, a limiting resistor 36, and a choke 31, to the plate 32. The negative terminal B of the plate voltage supply for the triode 3!, not shown, is grounded. A potentiometer resistor ti is connected across the plate voltage supply. The cathode 32 of the gas triode 3|, is connected to a tap MB of a potentiometer @I and is by-passed to ground through a by-pass capacitor 42. The grid 33 is grounded through a limiting resistor 43. A cathode resistor 39, a time-constant capacitor 38, a limiting resistor 36, and a choke 37 are connected in series in the order named between the cathode 32 and the plate 3d.

The plate ll of a second gas triode 44 is connected directly to the cathode of the gas triode 3i. The cathode 55 of the gas triode 44 is connected to the junction of the time-constant capacitor 38 and the cathode resistor 39. The grid it of the gas triode 44 is grounded thru a. variable time-constant resistor 50 and is connected to the cathode 45 through a time-constant capacitor 5i. The cathode 45 is connected through a blocking capacitor 53 to one terminal of a load resistor 52, the other terminal of which is grounded for a return circuit.

The cycle of operation of the pulse generator that is shown in Fig. 2 starts with the time-constant capacitor 38 uncharged, the gas triode 3i non-conducting, and the plate 3 3 only slightly above ground. Current flows from the terminal 13+ through the circuit comprising the timeconstant resistor 35, the time-constant capacitor 33, the cathode resistor 3t, and the potentiometer tap it to the terminal 3-. This builds a charge on the time-constant capacitor 38, and the voltage of the plate 34 rises to the striking voltage of the gas triode 3i. At the instant of the are striking in the gas triode 3|, the voltage across the plate 5 2 and the cathode 32 falls to about 15 volts due to the nature of the gas tube 3!. Operation of gas triode 3i is analogous to that of gas triode I shown in Fig. l. Capacitor 38 is charged to a high potential difference and then discharges through the limiting resistor 36, the choke 37, the gas triode 3|, and the resistor 39.

The principal part of the voltage drop in this circuit external to the capacitor 33 is located across the cathode resistor 39. Since the oathode 32, to which one end of the cathode resistor 35 is connected, is held closely to ground, the other end of the cathode resistor 39, which is connected to the capacitor 38, becomes strongly negative below ground. The cathode 45 of the gas triode i l is connected to this same end of the cathode resistor 35 and also swings strongly negative. The whole voltage drop across the capacitor 38 appears across the plate 4i and the cathode 35 of the gas triode 44, but it is not sufficient to cause gas triode 34 to break down while restrained by the negative grid bias initially between grid it and cathode 35.

At the inception of the cycle, the bias of the grid 5, with respect to the cathode 35, is the same as that of the grid 33 with respect to the cathode 32 and appears across the time-constant capacitor 55. When, at the breakdown of the gas triode (it the cathode d5 swings negative, the grid 46 is constrained to follow, since the voltage across the capacitor 5i can only change with time. The bias of the grid 38 is therefore the same as before, and, since the voltage across the cathode 35 and the plate ll is too low to cause breakdown at this bias, the grid at being negative, current flows in from ground through the timeconstant resistor 55]. The time-constant capacitor M then charges and the Voltage of grid 46 rises. Ultimately the voltage rises to a point at which the gas triode 44 breaks down. This breakdown closes a low impedance path for the discharge of the time-constant capacitor 38 through the limiting resistor 36, the choke 3?, the gas triode 3i and the gas triode 44.

At the instant the gas triode 44 breaks down, voltage across the plate 01 and the cathode 45 falls to about volts, and, since the plate 41 is held near ground by the potentiometer and by the capacitor 52, the voltage of th cathode 45 swings back up to its normal value. The timeconstant capacitor 38 is discharged very quickly. The arcs in the gas triodes 31 and 4d are quenched for Want of the plate voltage, and the circuit returns to its initial state to repeat the cycle.

At the instant that the gas triode 3! breaks down, the voltage across the load resistor 52 swings strongly negative. At the instant that the gas triode M breaks down the voltage swings up again. This is by reason of the connection of the ungrounded terminal of load resistor 52 to the cathode 65 through the blocking capacitor The negative pulse, which the second form of the device is designed to produce is generated in this manner.

The pulse width is determined by the timeconstant of the resistor-capacitor combination -55 and may be varied by the varying resistor E30 without affecting other characteristics of the generated pulse. The pulse repetition interval is determined by the time-constant of the resistorcapacitor combination 35i8, and may be varied by varying the resistor 35 without varying other characteristics of the generated pulse.

The function of the subsidiary components is substantially analogous to that of the similar and similarly designated components in Fig. 1.

In specific embodiments of the circuits that are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the following values for the several components have been found to operate satisfactorily:

Components Values 1 Megolim. 1,000 Ohm. 50,000 Ohm. 50,000 Ohm. 500,000 Ohm. 200,000 Ohm. 2,000 mini.

1 ref.

350 mnu".

Tubes No. 884 were used for the gas triodes l, M, 3!, and 4. The plate voltage supply was 300 volts. The bias voltage between cathodes 2,

6 I5, 32, 45, and grids 3, E5, 33, 46 was about 4 volts. The width of the pulse produced was of the order of 1 microsecond, and the pulse repetition rate was or" the order of 500 cycles per second.

It is to be understood that the circuits and the components, their values and the connections that are shown herein have been submitted for the purposes of illustrating and describing suitably operating embodiments of the present invention and that modifications, substitutions, and changes that resul in suitably operating devices may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is:

A self-actuated generator of electric pulses of extremely short time duration comprising first and second gas tubes, each having at least an anode, a cathode and a grid, the cathode of said first gas tube being connected to the anode of said second gas tube, means for periodically effecting electric discharges through said first gas tube comprising a condenser connected across said first tube, a source of direct current potential and resister connected between said source of potential and said condenser, means whereby electric discharge through said first gas tube discha ges said second gas tube after predeterm' time interval, said means comprising a reswtor in series with said first gas tube whereby a potential is developed across said resistor when first tube discharges, said potential being connected to the cathode of said second gas tube, said potential also being connected to the grid of said second tube through a time constant circuit whereb the potential difierence between said grid cathode will decrease at a predetermined rate caus' said second tube to discharge, thereby causing the cessation of discharge through said first and second tubes.

CLARENCE 1V1. VIOODR F1.

CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES- PATENTS Number Name Date 2,231,591 Pieplcw Feb. 11, 194:1 2,250,819 Wolf July 29, 19%1 2,292,100 Bliss Aug. 4, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date $7,982 Great Britain June 29, 1938 491,741 Great Britain Sept. 8, 1938 

